Afine rain was falling at daybreak on the fifth of the month.Rising water levels upstream had provided the seasonal“Dragon Boat tide”and the river was alrcady pea- green.Grandpa was on his way to town to buy goods for the festival,with a coolie hat made of phrynium fiber on his head and a bag containing a string of six hundred old imperial cop- per coins slung across his shoulder.He carried a basket and a big gourd full of wine.Because it was a festival day,folk from all the little villages and Miao stockades had come bearing goods and money for buying,selling,and trading.They had all arisen very early too,so Cuicui and the yellow dog tended the ferryboat in Grandpa's absence.Cuicui wore a brandnew coo- lie hat as she ferricd passengers back and forth,one trip after another.To the amusement of all,the yellow dog sat in the bow and,when they landed,jumped ashore before everyone else,carrying the tie rope in his mouth.Some country folk brought their own dogs with them to town,but as the old

saying goes,“dogs ought to be kept at home.”Away from their

territory,even accompanied by their masters,these dogs had

to be on their best behavior.On the ferry,Cuicui's dog would

go up and sniff at them until Cuicui threw him a cross look;he

seemed to understand that she was telling him to stand back.

Even after landing,when he'd done his duty with the rope,he

had to follow the unfamiliar dogs all the way up the hill.

Whether he was barking softly at a dog's master or following

the dog,Cuicui would yell at him,with a little anger in her

voice:“Hey,there,dog!What's gotten into you?What makes

you run off when we have work to do?”The yellow dog would

quickly run back to the boat and go back to sniffing every

place in sight.Cuicui said,“What nonsense is this?Where'd

you learn that?Lie down over there!”As if he understood her

words,the dog immediately went to his place in the boat and

only occasionally gave a few soft yaps,as if he'd just remem-

bered something.

The rain would not let up.The river was covered with

mist.When work quieted down on the boat,Cuicui rehearsed

the old ferryman's itinerary in her imagination.She knew

just where he was going,whom he would run into and what

they would say to each other,what would be going on at the

city gate and on River Street-it was all in "the ledger of her

mind,”as clear as if she had seen it with her own eyes.And

she knew her grandpa backward and forward.Every time he

met an army friend from the city,even a horse groomer or a

cook boy,he would give him the proper greetings of the day. He'd say,"Honorable Soldict,may you have your fill of good food and drink this holiday!"And the other would say,“Oars- man,may you have the same!”But if the reply to this salute was“What good food and drink do you mean?Four ounces of pork and two bowls of wine are not enough to satisfy any- one or get them drunk!,"Grandpa would earnestly invite his friend to Green Creck Hill to drink up.If the man wanted to drink a swig of wine from Grandpa's gourd,the ferryman would not be tightfisted-he'd hand it right over.And if the man from the garrison rolled his tongue and licked his lips while praising the wine's quality,Grandpa would press him to take another swallow.Thus was the wine dissipated,until the ferryman ran back to the shop where he'd bought it to fill his gourd up to the top again.Cuicui knew,too,that Grandpa would go to the docks to talk to sailors whose boats had put in a day or two earlier.He'd ask them the price of rice and salt downriver,and sometimes he'd stoop over and crawl into their cabins,which were steeped in the smells of squid and fish,sundry oils,vinegat,and smoke from the burning of wood.The boatmen would grab a handful of red dates from'a little jar and press them on the old ferryman.When Grandpa got home and heard Cuicui's complaints about his absence,

these dates became the instruments of their reconciliation. And when Grandpa got to River Street,many a shop owner would give him zongzi and other treats out of respect for this

oarsman who was so true to his duty.Though Grandpa would.

shout,“It'l crush my old bones to bring back a pile this big,”

he always had to give in to their gestures of gratitude.He'd

go to the long table where meat was sold and ask to buy,but

they wouldn't take his money.If one butcher would refuse

payment,he'd have to go to another rather than take advan-

tage of others'goodwill.The butcher would say,"Elder,why

are you so unyielding about this?Nobody's asking you to

be a beast of burden in front of the plow!”But he wouldn't

take the offering.To him,this was akin to blood money,in

a class of its own.If his money wasn't accepted,he d figure

out the meat's cost,thrust the coins into the bamboo tube

that was the merchant's money box,seize the purchase,and

leave.The butcher,knowing how he would react beforchand,

would give Grandpa the choicest portion and make sure it

was overweight.But the ferryman might notice that and say,

“Hey there,boss,I don't want any favors!Tenderloin cuts are

for city people to saute with squid.Don't make me laugh!I

want meat from the neck,rich and sticky.I row a boat.I want

to make a stew of it with carrots while I drink my wine!"

Meat in hand,he'd count out his payment before handing

it over,then insist that the butcher count it again,but the

latter would ignore this and throw the coins carelessly into

his money tube.The ferryman,as he left,would give a smile

that had to be called ingratiating.The butcher and his other

customers found this hilarious

Cuicui knew,too,that Grandpa would go to Shunshun's house on River Street.

She mused about everything she had seen and heard on the festival days of the past two years,joyful at heart,as if something had come to her,like the elusive yellow sunfower she saw with her eyes closed as she lay in bed in the morn- ing.This thing loomed bright and bold before her,but she couldn't see it clearly or quite grasp it.

Cuicui wondered:“Are there really tigers at White Rooster Pass?”She had no idea why she suddenly remembered White Rooster Pass.It was located in the middle reaches of the You River,over seventy miles from Chadong!

And then she thought:“Thirty-wo men hefing six heavy oars,hoisting a great sail when the wind comes up,made from one hundred lengths of white cloth,crossing Lake Dongting in such a giant boat—how absurd!”She had no idea how big Lake Dongting was,nor had she ever seen such a big boat.Even funnier,she couldn't herself imagine why these thoughts had come to her.

A group arrived to be ferried across,people with goods: men who looked like government messengers and aumother and daughter.The mother wore a blue outfit that had been starched stiff as a board and the girl's cheeks were rouged like two round cakes.She wore new clothes that didn't fit too well.They were going to town to greet their relatives at the festival and see the dragon boats.After waiting for the group

to get settled on the boat,Cuicui gave the girl a once-over

while she pulled the boat across the stream.To Cuicui,the

gil looked to be about eleven and already very spoiled,always

hanging on to her mother.Her newly polished shoes had

pointy toes and spikes on the botrom,but they were splashed

with mud.Her trousers were made of leek-green cotton cloth

with specks of purple.When she saw Cuicui staring at her,

she stared back with eyes bright as crystal balls.She looked

a little embarrassed,ill at ease,and at the same time indefin-

ably seductive.The mother then asked Cuicui how old she

was.Cuicui smiled,unwilling to answer,and instead asked

how old her daughter was.When she said twelve years old,

Cuicui couldn't suppress a laugh.They were obviously the

wife and daughter of a rich man;one could tell from their

manner.Cuicui spotted a pair of bracelets on the girl,made

of interlaced strands of silver.They fashed a shiny white light

and made Cuicui feel a little envious.When the boat reached

shore and everyone was off,the woman took out a copper coin

and pressed it into Cuicui's hand before going.Forgetting

her grandpa's rule for the moment,Cuicui neither thanked

her nor gave it back.She just gaped from behind at the girl

among the file of people.The group was about to go up the

hill when Cuicui suddenly chased after them.At the top of

the hill,she returned the money to the woman,who said,

“It's for you!”Cuicui just smiled and shook her head without

replying,to indicate that she couldn't accept it,and without

waiting for the woman to say another word,she quickly ran back to her ferryboat.

When she reached the boat,people on the opposite shore were summoning the ferry,so Cuicui tugged the boat across. Seven people crossed on this trip,among them two more girls,who also wore clean outfits to go see the boat races.But they were not so attractive;this made Cuicui fix her mind all the more on the previous girl.

More people than usual needed ferrying today,especially girls.Cuicui pulled them across on the boat,so they made a deep impression on her:the pretty ones,the funny-looking ones,the nice ones,ones with reddened eyes.When the crowds stopped,while she waited for Grandpa and Grandpa didn't come,she reviewed all ofthe gitls in her mind and sang softly and distractedly

The tiger at White Rooster Pass feasts on people And he'll get the militia captain's daughier first. Siter Na.I wears a pair ofgold hairpins,

Sister No.2,a pair ofsilver bracelets,

But Sister No.3,little me,has no jewelry to be · found;

Just bean-sprout earrings,worn all the year round.

A man came from town who'd seen the old ferryman in front of a tavern on River Street,offering a young boatman

his gourd full of freshly bought white liquor.Cuicui inquired

further and he told all.She laughed to hear of her grandpa's

generosity,offered at just the wrong time and the wrong place.

As the man departed,Cuicui again began to softly hum,just

for fun,the chant that the local shaman used to summon the

gods:

Gods and immortals,open your eyes and look at us

down here!

Our young are honest and healthy.

Our elders know how to drink,and work,and sleep;

Our children grow up to withstand hunger and cold;

Our oxen are willing to plow,our sheep to birth,our

fowl to hatch eggs;

Our women are good at raising children,singing,and

finding their true loves!

Gods and immortals,come on down and have a look.

Lord Guan,mount the Red-haired Steed,

General Weichi Gong,brandish the iron whip.

Gods and immortals above,ride down on the clouds

and look around!

Old Man Zhang Guo,ride steady on your donkey,

Iron Crutch Li,be carefiul where you step!

Riches and emoluments without end come from the

gods;

Timely winds and rains,too,come from your favor, So good wine and food are laid before you,

Fat pigs and sheep are frying in the pan.

Hong Xiuquan,Li Hongzhang,

Once you were lords ofall around,

Murder and arson—suicide and loyalty-each has

its art,

So join the feast,its for you to take part.

Eat and drink,please take your time,

Moons up and breeze's down;fording the river will be just fine

Ifyoure drunk I'll take your hand and lead you along.

So I can treat you to another song.

The melody was very sweet,full of happiness tinged with melancholy.When she finished singing it,Cuicui felt a litle despondent.She recalled the prairie fires and drumbeats at the end of autumn when it was time for rewarding the gods and redeeming promises to them.

The drumbeats from afar had already begun to sound. She knew that this must mark the dragon boats,painted with their vermilion stripes,going into the river.It was still driz- zling endlessly and a layer of mist hung over the creck.